Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Religious Studies B (2016)
Exploring different religions and beliefs
Here, you'll find everything you need to prepare for GCSE Religious Studies B from 2016, including the accredited specifications and sample assessment materials.
Allows students to study two religions, integrated with the key philosophical and ethical issues facing the local, national and international community. This specification allows beliefs, teachings and practices of two religions to be brought to life as well as exploring different viewpoints within religions.
We enable co-teachability of our full and short course for specification B, so you can select the most appropriate route for each student.
You will enjoy plenty of flexibility when it comes to choosing the religions and topics to teach. With the option to study two religions from a choice of seven, you can introduce exciting and provocative debates relevant to the real world to engage your students.
Our straightforward assessments are designed to be accessible to all students with a clear structure and easy-to-follow command words. In addition, our exam papers are split by religion, helping students to focus when it comes to revising.
We’ll provide a programme of teaching and learning support to help you plan and deliver your chosen course and understand fully the new content and assessment requirements.
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Specification
- Qualification type:
- General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE)
- Level:
- Level 1/2
- Accreditation status:
- Accredited
- Subject:
- Religious Studies B
- Specification codes:
- 1RB0
- Availability:
- UK and international
- First teaching:
- 2016
- First assessment:
- 2018
- Qualification type:
- General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE)
- Level:
- Level 1/2
- Accreditation status:
- Accredited
- Subject:
- Religious Studies B (Short course)
- Specification codes:
- 3RB0
- Availability:
- UK and international
- First teaching:
- 2016
- First assessment:
- 2018
GCSE Religious Studies 2016: What's changing
These changes will apply to all awarding organisations’ specifications:
- Schools now need to study two religions; previously schools could follow a single faith route.
- The subject criteria now contain more content and details of Areas of Study for each religion.
- Specific philosophical, ethical and religious themes have been introduced.
- The subject criteria have been split into two parts (A and B) to allow specifications to be designed with two different approaches.
Our approach
We’ve worked with the teaching community, higher education, learned societies and subject associations to design our new GCSE Religious Studies B specifications for 2016. Our ambition has been to develop Religious Studies qualifications that you will know and recognise, and to allow you to teach topics and religions you know your students will enjoy.
We have commissioned and conducted our own research, including international benchmarking and trialling. This research has helped us to build on the strengths of our current specification and to identify the skills that students need to progress to further study in Religious Studies.
Download the presentation
Didn't get to one of our Getting Ready to Teach events? View the presentation here.
Teaching support
The following support materials are available in the course materials section.
- Getting started guide
- Course planners
- Schemes of work
- Mapping documents
- Exemplars
- Specimen papers.
Contact the Religious Studies team
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